Brendan Rodgers wants Celtic to extend league lead by New Year
Boss Brendan Rodgers has targeted a double-figures points lead for Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership by the end of the year.
The Hoops have achieved their manager’s first two aims by retaining the Betfred League Cup with a final win over Motherwell in November and qualifying for the Europa League with a tie against Russian side Zenit St Petersburg to come in February.
The champions went five points clear of second-placed Aberdeen with a 2-0 win over bottom side Partick Thistle at Celtic Park on Wednesday night and ahead of the visit of the Dons on Saturday, with Dundee away and Rangers at home to come before the end of 2017, Rodgers said: "I said to the players a numbers of weeks ago about the three targets by the 30th of December.
"If we can win the League Cup, qualify for the Europa League and have double-figure advantage by the time we arrive into the winter break then we will have a brilliant season.
"Okay, if we don’t have the double figures, as long as we have that gap then that will represent an outstanding start for the players through qualification for Europa League and winning the League Cup. That would be a great, great end to the year for us."
